it's time to vote for your favorite tv theme songs of all time. yahoo! is getting in on the bracket madness with the theme song showdown letting users vote for the best tv tunes of all time. it's been in increments allowing only the best to move through each round. so get to voting. michael jackson's mtv video music award for "thriller" is going on the auction award. it was given to jackson at the first ever annual award ceremony and is estimated to fetch over $100,000. speaking of the vmas, for the first time since 2009 it will be held in new york city. brooklyn's barclays center will host the event which airs live on august 25th. celebs are using their power for good by teaming up with ww toe raise funds for victims of hurricane sandy. sean combs is hosting an online auction that includes a meet and greet with sting, lunch with charlie sheen and a role on "anger management."

and a one of a kind guitar used by coldplay's chris martin. nbc's go on is giving friends fans a little baste reunion tonight. >> actually, we both cry. i start crying and then he cries. >> i don't cry that much. >> why you do. it's nonstop. >> i hardly ever cry. >> i like a sensitive guy. >> i cry all the time. a sensitive cryer who drives a porsche. for the first time in 29 months, tiger woods is ranked number one in the world today after winning the arnold palmer invitational in orlando. to congratulate tiger, nike posted this on their facebook page. it says winning takes care of everything. except for that ridiculous goatee and mustache. i'm pretty sure lawyers take care of everything in tiger

woods' case. >> they must have done a good job because he's playing well. i'm bill karins. this is "way too early." we have a lot of news to talk about on this tuesday, march 26th. including overseas marathon for secretary of state john kerry. what america's top diplomat had to say about hamid karzai's sometimes, maybe always, erratic behavior. plus, you hear about this? a british teenager sells an app to yahoo! for a reported $30 million. we'll tell you what's behind the young programmer's massive payday. but first, to the rest of the news live at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock in new york city. the supreme court is set to hear arguments this morning on prop 8, the controversial law banning same-sex marriage in california. it's anyone's guess which way the justices will rule. but they certainly have a long list of options. and we'll bring them to you. first, prop 8 could be upheld leaving gay couples without the right to marry in california and leaving other state laws untouched. but things are more complicated

if prop 8 is struck down. a broad ruling would allow same-sex marriage in california. it would also apply to similar state laws across the country. a middle of the road option known as a nine-state solution would apply to states that only allow civil united nations. it would not affect marriage bans in other states. and a narrow ruling would allow gay marriage only in california. but the justices could also decide that sponsors of prop 8 don't have the proper standing to represent california in the case. that could allow a lower court decision to declare prop 8 unconstitutional and to remain in place. a lot of options there. watching from inside the courtroom will be chief justice john roberts' cousin who is gay. she told the "l.a. times" he's a smart man. he's a good man. i believe he sees where the tide is going. i do trust him. i absolutely trust that he will go in a good direction. earlier this month, senator rob portman entered the debate, reversing his stance on the

issue when he revealed his son had recently come out. will portman chronicled the story in the yale student newspaper writing in part, i'm proud of my dad. not necessarily because of where he is now on marriage equality, although i'm pretty psyched about that, but because he's been thoughtful and open-minded in how he's approached the issue and because he's shown that he's willing to take a political risk in order to take a principled stand. he was a good man before he changed his position. and he's a good man now just as there are good people on either side of this issue today. recent pew poll shows a reversal in public opinion on the topic of same-sex marriage mostly because of younger americans. in 2003, americans overwhelm league opposed it. 58% to 33%. flash forward ten years now, more americans support it at 49% to 44%. younger americans have shown a 19% change in support over the last decade alone.

back from his tour of the middle east, president obama is urging them to finish the job when it comes to comprehensive immigration reform. yet the president hosted a naturalization ceremony for 28 new citizens at the white house. the president who acknowledged the need for undocumented workers to pay penalties and taxes also used the moment to make the case for a culture that embraces immigrants saying the country's economic future is at stake. >> immigration makes us stronger. it keeps us vibrant. it keeps us hungry. it keeps us prosperous. it is part of what makes this such a dynamic country. we've known for years that our immigration system is broken, that we're not doing enough to harness the talent and ingenuity of all of those who want to work hard and find a place in america. and after avoiding the problem for years, the time has come to fix it once and for all. >> a bipartisan group of eight senators hopes to have a plan drawn up by after easter. separately, senator ted cruz

cast doubt on the negotiations. in an interview with the "dallas morning news" he said he believes the president wants the immigration reform effort to crater. that's so democrats can hammer republicans on the immigration issue in the 2014 midterm elections. cruz pointed to the controversial pathway to citizenship which he said will ultimately kill the bill. the white house responded saying flatly there's no evidence to support the senator's claims. by the way, to crater something, which i had never heard before is a slang. it's a verb meaning to destroy or ruin. thanks, dictionary.com. in the coming weeks, president obama is expected to shift his focus back to the debate on guns. the white house announced the president will hit the road looking to shore up support from his fellow democrats on some of the more controversial aspects of the senate's gun legislation, including a ban on assault weapons. >> i do anticipate that you'll see the president using the power of the bully pulpit as you describe it by traveling across the country a little bit. this remains a priority for the

president and something we'll push for in a variety of ways. the political group organizing for action which began as an effort to get the president re-elected is also getting involved in the debate. they'll hold more than 100 events this thursday supporting efforts to reduce violence. on the other side of the debate, the national rife association is facing heat for a series of robo calls being made to connecticut residents, including those in newtown. looking to rally support against the state's effort for stricter gun legislation. >> this week, despite an outcry of public opposition, anti-gun legislators are aggressively pursuing numerous proposals that are designed to disarm and punish law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen. these bills would ban commonly owned firearms impose a gun rationing scheme and mandate gun registration. >> i think they'd be able to fix the voice on these by now with technology. u.s. senators richard bloomenthal and murphy said with

these robocalls, the nra has stooped to a new low in the debate on how to best protect our kids and communities. we call on you to immediately stop calling the families and friends of victims in newtown. they are threatening to filibuster majority leader harry reid's debate on gun control legislation when the senate returns from easter recess. the debate will include votes on universal background checks and a separate push to ban assault weapons. to news overseas where the taliban is claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed at least five afghan police officers early this morning. the attack came just hours after secretary of state john kerry met with afghan president hamid karzai, discussed the transfer of security operations to afghan forces. andrea mitchell was travel with secretary kerry. >> reporter: john kerry's trip to afghanistan was all about damage control. defusing tensions with the country's erratic president hamid karzai. two weeks ago, karzai infuriated

the president and congress suggesting the u.s. had colluded with the taliban on suicide attacks. karzai claimed he was misunderstood. >> after all of the american sacrifices, do you stand by your statement, your recent statement, that the united states is conspire with the taliban on recent terror attacks? >> i never used the word collusion between the taliban and the u.s. and those were not my words. those were the words picked up by the media. >> we're on the same page. i don't think there's any disagreement between us and i'm very comfortable with the president's explanation. >> it wasn't kerry's first mission to deal with a karzai problem. he spent four days persuading karzai to hold a run-off election after vote fraud. just before kerry landed, the u.s. turned over control of the prison at bagram air base giving karzai the power, if he chooses, to release dangerous prisoners. kerry's kid glove treatment of karzai is in sharp contrast to

his visit to iraq where he confronted maliki for helping iran re-arm the assad regime. israel, jordan, iraq, back to jordan for a secret dinner with pakistan's powerful army chief of staff. and afghanistan. >> that was nbc's andrea mitchell reporting. staying overseas, a rescue package has kept the banks in cyprus from collapse bug the implications with the european unit rocking the global markets. on wall street all three major indexes ended the day in negative territory. let's go to cnbc's karen cho who is live in london. who are the winners and losers in cyprus with this package? >> those with deposits under 100,000 you'reos are still the winners here. those with over 100,000 are taking the hit. as to what's playing out on the ground, two major banks there still remain shut and are likely to be closed the next couple of

days, the two banks that have been involved in this risky package. this is to avoid that run on deposits. in terms of the free flow of captain this will be constrained for a lot longer. capital controls are likely to last for a matter of weeks. we saw sentiment on wall street affected yesterday across europe yesterday but also today as well. and this is on the back of comments by the eurogroup chief who was saying that cyprus was going to be a template for further eurozone rescues. later in the day he retreated from those comments but it's still been enough to stoke fears. still no clarity despite many officials trying to back away from that stance and prove that cyprus was a one-off event. former presidential candidate michele bachmann is being investigated for alleged campaign finance violations during her run for the republican presidential nomination. former staffers say officials are looking at allegations of

under the table payments and improper transfer of funds. the four-term congresswoman is denying any wrongdoing. her attorney released a statement confirming the investigation by the office of congressional ethics. it reads in part, quote, we are constructively engaged with the oce and are confident that the end of the review -- the oce board will conclude that congressman bachmann did nothing inappropriate. political reports the full house ethics committee will have 90 days to decide whether to continue with the inquiry. if investigators recommend a full-scale probe. former president bill clinton stepped back into the realm of local politics yesterday throwing his support behind los angeles mayor candidate wendy greuel. clinton calls her a smart, dedicated and creative problem solver and praises her experience with the department of housing and urban development under his administration. but clinton's endorsement may stem from allegiances formed during the 2008 democratic primary. see this bottom line here?

gruel supported hillary clinton. her opponent the l.a. race, eric garcetti served as the co-chair of obama's california campaign. the race will be decided may 21st when gruel faces garcett ni a run-off. in while most 17s are thinking about the prom and college and whatever else they do, a young computer whiz in britain is thinking about what to do with the tens of millions of dollars he just earned by selling an app to yahoo!. nick delosio who works at the company now, reportedly sold his news reading app for as much as $30 million. the program called sumly condens long-form news stories into easy to read summaries for mobile devices. who wouldn't want to read a long winded mike barnacle essay. sorry. other early investors in the app included arbon kutcher, yoko ono and rupert murdoch's wife wendy. he doesn't have any immediate big plans for his paycheck

except to have his parents help manage it. as always, let us know why you are awake. shoot us an e-mail at way too early@msnbc.com. still ahead on "way too early," tiger woods regains his status as world's number one golfer heading to augusta. highlights from the arnold palmer invitational are next in sports. plus, stephen colbert is back after a two-week hiatus, just in time for pope francis to lead the catholics into holy week. and get a check on that forecast. and a grumpy old man when "way too early" comes right back. 39 people are dead in an apparent mass suicide in a million-dollar mansion just north of san diego. the bodies of the victims believed to be members of a religious cult. >> they believed there was a ufo following that comet and when

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new york city was spared the snowstorm that d.c., baltimore and philadelphia had at this time yesterday morning. wasn't a pretty di but at least no snow on the ground. i'd like to say we're totally done with the snow but not quite yet. a little more today and then i promise i don't really see any more snorwstorms in the future. i've said that for the last three weeks. snow coming down in indiana and ohio. it's not accumulating much on the roads. if you are driving in west virginia or mountainous wears of eastern kentucky, that's where we got snow. it's cold enough this morning we got snow showers in northern georgia. look at this map. we're at the end of march. we're ready to start turning the heat off and getting the shorts ready. we have snow covering literally 50% of the lower 48.

this is the peak. it will melt from here on out. a lot of melting to do. the weather pattern will not let us melt much. still cold air coming down from canada. as it goes over the snow pack is t doesn't moderate and warm up. it's going to remain chilly through easter weekend. at least with the sunshine, things will warm up in a hurry. it's a cold weekend. windchill in dallas and atlanta in the 20s. that's winter clothes as far south as dallas and atlanta. i'm sure spring break people are not thrilled in florida where the windchill is 46 in orlando. it's only going to warm up to possibly maybe mid-60s. not exactly pool or beach weather in the sunshine state. new orleans, only 55. chilly by their standards. at least the snowstorms are over with. we start to slowly warm things up as we head towards easter weekend. let's turn now to sports. tiger woods had a chance to get back on top of the golfing world with a win at the arnold palmer invitation. got rained out on sunday. they resumed yesterday. tiger took a three-stroke lead

into the final round. ricky fowler, always best dressed on the course, he gets the friendly spin on the fifth hole. he keeps the pressure on with the birdie. tiger wouldn't be denied. he drains this 25-footer. putting really well now. steve stricker gave him a couple of lessons a couple of weeks ago. it's paying off. tiger goes up by three. this is very long. a 75-foot par putt. he almost makes it. just comes up short. tiger taps it in. finishes 13 under for the tournament. easy win. he's great down there at the arnold palmer. number one ranking once again for the first time since 2010 facing roy mcelroy. after the win tiger sounded optimistic about staying on top. >> if i get healthy, i know i can play this game at a high level. i know i can be where i'm contending in every event, contending in major championships and being consistent day in and day out. if i got healthy.

and that was the first step in the process. once i got there, then my game turned. >> tiger's new lady friend -- that's like what me grandmother says. my new lady friend. his girlfriend lindsey von took to twitter to congratulate her boyfriend tweeting number 1! to the nba, the heat drawing ever closer to the '72 lakers. record of 33 straight nba wins. the heat went for number 27 against the magic without d. wade. third quarter tied at 68. lebron james, his signature tomahawk. one-handed slam. that gives the heat the lead. fourth quarter. heat are pulling away. looks like they're just playing. just ducking out of the way. feeds lebron for the alley-oop. heat win their 27th straight game. 108-94. they have a nice test tomorrow where they'll be at chicago against the bulls. still no derek rose, though. the darlings of march

madness, florida gulf coast eagles returned to campus last night and got the heroes' welcome they deserved. thanks to the improbable run to the sweet 16, sales at the school's student book store are up 1,000% from last year. when the team finished with a losing record. the eagles will try to continue their historic run against the university of florida. the gators on friday night in arlington. but don't expect the eagles to be intimidated. sherwood brown said the team is not afraid to suit up against anyone, including the miami heat. you had me until you said that. finally president obama's bracket looked to be in serious trouble after the round of 64. it hovered around the 30th percentile. but his bracket is on the rebound heading into the sweet 16. the president got 11 of the 16 teams correct. if you took all the favorites you would have had ten correct. he's beating that. he failed to pick wichita state, lasalle, florida gulf coast, oregon or arizona like the rest of us.

he's around the 70th percentile with haufall of his final four s remaining. that's impressive. coming up, the supreme court takes up marriage equality. hearing arguments today in a first two of pivotal cases this week. the "morning joe wts crew will discuss the issues with steve schmidt and author wes moore. when we come back, we'll huddle around the water cooler where "the daily show" offers its take on the president's trip to the holy land. jon stewart is planning to stay. ♪ i am stuck on band-aid brand ♪

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enough are the real news. let's gather around the water cooler. i still can't find my friend lewis. to watch one of the least surprising things you'd expect tim tebow to do. on sunday, a plane carrying the jets quarterback stopped at a airport to refuel. arriving at the same airport, the wichita state men's basketball team. fresh off its win over top-seeded gonzaga. tebow's immediate instinct, pep talk time. he climbed aboard and delivered this motivational speech to the underdogs in a wonderful pink sweater. >> i just want to say congrats. you are an inspiration to so many people so always remember that, how you carry yourself and your character. how you represent your school, your family, your team, your brothers on the team.

but also, man, just go out there and ball out. leave nothing on the court. you don't need to hear that from me. i wish you all love. we'll be praying for you. god bless and you all go do it, all right? >> can't even make fun of the sweater. he's a nice guy. how did the president like the cuisine on his trip to israel last week? jon stewart explains. >> oh, mr. president, they're robots. oh, my god! oh, they're jewish robots. they're bringing him a nosh. >> that's good. >> i'm going to stop you right there. good matzah? that's what's known in the business as a goy tell. because unless that matzah was slathered in fluffernutter or jammed inside a jamwich, it tastes like the box it came on. >> you are allowed to say matzah sucks. that's what netanyahu was

thinking. you give matzah to a jew, this is what they say. all right, it's passover. and pope francis is opting for a less than luxurious lifestyle. >> a major break with tradition, the vatican announced the mass on thursday will be held in the chapel of a juvenile detention facility and pope francis will wash the feet of 12 young inmates. >> let me get this straight. i got to camp out overnight in st. peter's square just to catch a glimpse of his holiness. some hooligan jacks a stereo and the next thing you know he's getting his feet washed by the pope. he's getting a mani-popi. i don't get it. i got one piece of advice. your holiness if you don't want to end you up as somebody's punk, you walk up to the biggest guy in the yard and you just bless him right in the face.

>> it's good to have colbert and stewart back. no more two-week vacations. still ahead, why your awake? your texts and tweets are next. thankyou card and started